Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse takes place in the same demolished Tokyo as the previous game, but tells its story from the perspective of a new protagonist and offers a different angle on the events that led to the city's destruction. The player once again moves between the Bethel and Ashura-kai factions, negotiates and fights with demons, and decides the fate of a world split between angels and demons, but this time with an emphasis on a third, independent faction that stands against both sides and offers its own, notably more cynical view of the eternal conflict between order and chaos already familiar to players of the first game from its opening hours and its resolution.

Combat is built on the turn-based Press Turn system, where exploiting enemy weaknesses grants extra turns, but the game adds a new Smirk system that rewards aggressive play with bonuses to attack and defense and shifts the pace of battles toward greater intensity. Demon collecting and fusion, sprawling dungeons, and other mechanics from the previous game have been reworked and expanded with new areas, characters, and side quests that deepen the relationships between the hero and his companions. The length and depth of content make it one of the most extensive entries in the series on 3DS, offering dozens of hours of content and an optional postgame, even for players who want to explore every ending and understand how a different starting point shapes the fate of Tokyo and the individual characters trying to escape the demolished city.

Why play it: Apocalypse is for JRPG fans who appreciate a complex turn-based combat system full of tactics involving weaknesses and demon fusion, along with a dark, morally ambiguous story. The new perspective and reworked combat system make the game worthwhile even for players who never played the original Shin Megami Tensei IV and want to enter the world of devastated Tokyo for the first time from a different side of the conflict, without needing to know the details of the first game or its characters.